Interview with Risako Yoshida, Director of "The Inferior Students of Magical High School the Movie: The Girl Who Calls the Stars" Where does the "Magical Family" reside?

The TV anime "The Lesser Student of Magical High School," which aired in 2014, attracted a great deal of attention for the overwhelming strength of the hero, Tatsuya Shiba, and his amicable brother-sister love with the heroine, Miyuki. The original novel, published by Dengeki Bunko, became a blockbuster hit, selling a total of 7.9 million copies. The series is currently in the midst of a boom.
Akiba Research Institute conducted an interview with the director of this work, Risako Yoshida. The creator, who was involved in the direction of each episode of the TV series and directed the movie version for the first time, talked about the directorial techniques that brought out the full appeal of "Magical Science".

It is no wonder that Tatsuya is the strongest.

───Can you tell us how you got involved in the TV series of "The Lesser Student of Magical High School"? You were working on the storyboard and direction together, weren't you?

Risako Yoshida (Yoshida): I was introduced to the project by Maho Yoshikawa, the supervising producer. I guess it depends on your schedule and various other circumstances to work on both storyboarding and directing at the same time, but I used to work on only one or the other until I joined "Magical Science". I had the opportunity to participate in the TV series as a rotating staff member, and I wanted to work on both storyboarding and directing.

─ ─ In many cases, the storyboarding and directing are handled by different staff members. What is the advantage of working on both?

Yoshida: When I direct another person's storyboard, it takes me a long time to understand the intention of the storyboard. If I work on both, I can grasp the worldview, characters, and storyline of the work before and after the story, and I can have a vision when directing. Some directors do not separate storyboarding and directing, but always do both. When I actually experienced this, I felt that it was faster to do both. However, watching other people's storyboards is a great learning experience, as it gives me technical and sensory insights.

─ How did you feel when you read the original work?

Yoshida: At first, I had the impression that the writing style was very heavy. I thought I had to concentrate on reading it because of the detailed explanation of the theory of magic. I thought the appeal of the book was that it made me think, "I'm going to understand this!


───Did you get a sense of the viewers' reaction to the TV series, which became a topic of conversation while it was still airing?

Yoshida: It was still a work in progress, so I was busy finishing the episodes I was in charge of (laughs). (laughs) However, after finishing the TV series, I was able to look back and see that I managed to complete the rotation.

─ ─ You were appointed as the director for the film version. This is the first time for you to direct a film.

Yoshida: Actually, it was at the same time that "Magical Family" was being made into a movie and that I found out I was going to be the director. I had heard from Kana Ishida, the character designer and chief animation director, that she was going to work on the next "Magical Family," but at that time I thought it would be the second season or an OVA. So I was surprised when I heard that the next film would be a theater version and that I would be the director. I was surprised to hear that I would be directing the next film, and that I would be directing the feature film.

─ ─ Did you think that TV and film require different things?

Yoshida: The size of a TV screen and a movie theater screen are completely different, so I think that a beautiful picture is a prerequisite. Even parts that were not noticeable on TV had to be carefully finished to reveal the flaws. I thought about many things, such as the close-ups of the characters, which may not bother you on TV, but may make the audience gasp when they see them on the big screen in the theater. But if I got too caught up in it, I wouldn't be able to do anything. (laughs) Also, in the TV series, I only had to keep track of my own episodes, but this time, as the director, I was in charge of the whole project, which was different from my position.

─ ─ What did you focus on when creating the film version?

Yoshida: To keep the "Magical Family" style as in the TV series. When deciding on things, I tried to choose things that felt right for the "Department of Magical Arts". Thanks to the presence of the main staff from the TV series in the film version, I think we were able to share this sense in many places. The "magical family" is not only about actions and personalities, such as "Tatsuya would not do something like this," but also about detailed gestures of the characters. Poses in particular are important symbols that express the characters, so we were careful to make them look as cool or cute as possible. I even asked Mr. Ishida, "Is this pose appropriate for this character? I asked Mr. Ishida, "Is this pose appropriate for this character?

─ Is Tatsuya's strength one of the "Magic Family" characteristics?

Yoshida Yes, it is. But I think it's quite normal for Tatsuya to be the strongest for a work called "Magical Science" (laughs). It is so commonplace that we don't even need to show off our strength. It was as if he was naturally the strongest without being conscious of it.